Kamakulzar crawls deeper under the hanging trees, bracers rasping softly over wet earth. Mist thickens around the reeds, and the open gate behind him is only a pale shape now.
Ahead, two figures huddle in moon-struck shadow, an elf and a drow, both bent close in a tense whisper. Their argument stays low, sharp, and half-swallowed by leaves.
Kamakulzar slides through a gap in the brush and settles into the dark, still as a stalking beast. He gets close enough to catch the hard edges of their words.
The Elf
You said the trail would be empty. Now we have to decide whether to trust the cairn-voice or turn back.
The Drow
Turn back? After coming this far? No. Someone is already in these woods, and I mean to know who.
A third shape shifts from behind a mossy trunk, a lean human wrapped in a travel cloak, one hand raised in warning. They keep their voice quiet, but not afraid.
The Wanderer
Lower your voices. The marsh hears more than you think... and so do the trees.
The elf and drow freeze, listening into the dark. Kamakulzar remains half-hidden in the brush, close enough to hear the next word before it lands.
✓ Quest Accepted
Eavesdrop on the secret meeting
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn who the trio are
“I slow my breath to hear them, every word”
SUCCESS (Good Perception, rolled +0)
Kamakulzar slows his breathing until the mist seems to move with him. The reeds hush, the trunk creaks, and the whispering stops becoming noise and starts becoming words.
The Elf
If the cairn-voice is lying, we waste the night for nothing. But if it is not, we are standing where we should not be.
The Drow
Then listen harder. The intruder is not some beast in the brush, it is a listener. I can feel it.
The Wanderer
Keep still. The woods carry sound farther than your fear does. One wrong word and the meeting is lost.
Their voices slip together and separate again, sharp with caution. Kamakulzar catches every edge of it from the dark, the whole exchange laid bare in the moonlit hush.
The Elf
We came for names, not blades. If someone follows the cairns, I want to know who sent them.
The Drow
Then stay ready. The watcher is close enough to hear us, and close enough to answer.
Quest Complete
Eavesdrop on the secret meeting